Spurs beat Charlotte, reach 6th in Western race

Last June, as his former teammates exorcised some LeBron James-sized demons on South Beach, Charlotte guard Gary Neal was at home in Baltimore, watching the ghostbusting unfold on television.

As the Spurs finally finished their unfinished business from 2013, passing circles around the Miami Heat in the most lopsided NBA Finals in history, Neal swears he only thought about Ray Allen's infamous Game 6 shot from the year before about, oh, once every six seconds.

While the rest of the Spurs got a shot at redemption last season, Neal moved on to Milwaukee and then to Charlotte.

The Spurs’ Tim Duncan grabs a rebound against the Charlotte Hornets at the AT&T Center on Jan. 28, 2015. The Spurs defeat the Hornets 95-86.

The Spurs’ Tim Duncan grabs a rebound against the Charlotte Hornets at the AT&T Center on Jan. 28, 2015. The Spurs defeat the Hornets 95-86.

Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

Spurs beat Charlotte, reach 6th in Western race

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"It will never leave me," Neal said Wednesday, before the Spurs defeated the Hornets 95-86 at the AT&T Center. "I'll be 60 years old and still talking to my kids about that shot."

Having spent his first three NBA seasons in San Antonio, and having come as close as a player can come to earning a championship without giving out his ring size, Neal swears he was rooting for the Spurs to gain their revenge without him.Spurs Video

He says he has never seen basketball played in quite the manner it was played in the final three games of the Spurs' rout.

"The closest I ever saw to that was overseas," Neal said. "You don't really see much of that in the NBA."

The Spurs' climb toward a third consecutive Finals appearance, still in progress, has been more arduous.

They took another step in the right direction Wednesday, though it might not have looked like it during a third quarter in which the Spurs went 4 of 21 from the field and squandered all but two points of an 17-point halftime lead.

Tony Parker had 15 of his 17 points in the first half for the Spurs, who improved to 11-3 since New Year's Eve.

At last the Spurs (30-17) are beginning to see some tangible effect in the standings. Combined with Dallas' loss to Houston, Wednesday's victory moved them into a tie with the Mavericks for sixth in the Western Conference standings.

"Forward progress is always good," guard Danny Green said.

All along, the Spurs pointed at this month's six-game homestand as a prime opportunity to gain ground.

Though not every minute of every game has hearkened back to the Finals domination of Miami, they've started 3-0 with victories of the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee and now Charlotte (19-27).

Playing without leading scorer Kemba Walker, who underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Hornets found themselves in a 42-24 hole midway through the second quarter.

Then came the third quarter.

Two weeks earlier in Charlotte, the Spurs succumbed to five blocked shots from Bismack Biyombo, the Hornets' human pogo stick.

With Biyombo out with a knee injury Wednesday, the AT&T Center rims at times did an adequate impersonation.

The Spurs finished the third quarter with 14 consecutive misfires, as Charlotte closed within two.

"It seemed like there was a lid on the basket," said Green, who finished with 16 points and four 3-pointers.

Playing in his final game before NBA All-Star reserves are announced Thursday, Tim Duncan produced 12 points and 14 rebounds, blocked three shots and two steals to help fend off the Charlotte rally.

Duncan went toe-to-toe with Al Jefferson, who had 17 points and 16 rebounds to keep the Hornets in the game.

"He's the hardest guy in the world to guard," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who turned 66 Wednesday, said of Jefferson. "That's why we sent two or three guys after him after a while. He's something else to watch."

Last June, the Spurs were something else. Wedensday, they showed flashes.

Take the fourth quarter, when they assisted on eight of 11 field goals, held Charlotte to 7 of 19 shooting and put the game away with 3-pointers. Back-to-back Green daggers pushed the Spurs' lead to 93-76 with 2:44 to go.

The Spurs aren't back in playoff form yet, not quite.

"But we're closer than where we were a month ago," Popovich said.

For the Spurs, the elusive goal is to get back to where they were the last time they were in Miami.